October 29, 2010

We had a wonderful hike to the Wu Ledges today.  Sue Dillon led us on our journey.  I have lots of pictures that I took with my phone.  I will download them and update the slide show this weekend.  The kids all did a fabulous job today and seemed to really enjoy the hike.

*There is no weekly news today (we didn't have time because of the hike).

I hope you have a great Halloween.
Peace,
Tom

October 27, 2010

 Sad to say, indoor recess today!  Mrs. Dillon hiked the trail of our planed Friday hike.  Unfortunately it is very wet and muddy.  The brooks that we would have to cross are unsafe to pass with the group.  So, we will drive up to Mrs. Dillon's house and hike to the Wu Cliffs.  Mrs. Dillon will be joining us and lead us on the trek.  Please remember to pack a water bottle for your child.  Some of the chaperones are making a snack for the class, so you will not need to pack one for your child.

 Today we met Jeremy Gulley and talked about composting.  Jeremy talked to the class about the benefits to composting, how to do it, and then we started working on the composting bins in our school garden.  These bins will be our responsibility for the remainder of the school year.

  This afternoon the children had to use different dimensions of card stock to create three dimensional rectangles.  We also learned more about the state of Maine and some of its symbols.  If you have any pictures or items from the Maine coast, please send them in.

 I hope you have a wonderful day.
Peace,
Tom

October 25, 2010

Good Afternoon,
  I hope your children enjoyed their time off.  I was amazed at all the different weather conditions I observed throughout the weekend.
 
  Last Wednesday, the students teamed up with the Pre-Tech Outreach Program and worked on expanding the mulch rings around the fruit trees.  It was nice to team up with a few students from Harwood and was equally nice to share with them our orchard work.

  Today we started our geography dictionaries.  The students entered the words hill, ocean, island, and coast into their books.  These are terms that came right out of Mrs. Rumphius.  This is the current book on our travels around the country.

FYI:
*We will be hiking on Friday.  Please make sure your child has appropriate clothing, shoes, and a water bottle.
*I will be out tomorrow morning (not today as I thought) to bring my daughter for her hearing aid fitting.  Sally Utter will be the substitute.  I plan on being back by 11:00.
*There is math and reading homework this week.  Some of the math games involve some cutting.  Please do this for your child, so he/she can spend their time playing the game.

That is all for now.  Have a wonderful week.
Peace,
Tom

October 20, 2010

Good Morning,
  Today our goal was to finish a few tasks that we have been working on over the past few weeks.  Our main goal was to finish our Family write drafts.  This afternoon I am hoping to take the class to the orchard to meet Kristen and her crew from Harwood.

  I hope the kids enjoy the long weekend.  My family and I are off to a cabin in the woods.  I think it might be Fall's last hurrah.  Please remember to read on Thursday and Friday.

Peace,
Tom

October 18, 2010

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend.  I took my dad to a football game on Friday evening.  The wind and rain reminded me of the typhoons I used to experience in the South Pacific.  Please remember that this week is a shortened week.  We do not have school on Thursday or Friday.

Today the students planned their (imaginary) trips to Boston.  They had to decide what kind of transportation would be needed, who would take them, and what they would visit while in Boston.  We also spent some time talking about the terms tradition and celebration.  Tomorrow the kids will write about Patriot's Day and the traditions that happen around this celebration.  Next week we will travel up the coast to the State of Maine.  We will be reading from the book Mrs. Rumphius.  If you have any pictures, posters, or items from the Maine Coast, please send them in.  

We are going to postpone our hike for another time.  Wednesday's weather looks questionable and we have more chaperones available on Fridays.  So, we will plan our hike for the 29th of October.  We will leave the school around 8:30 a.m.  The chaperones will be Susan H., Jennifer S., Bear S., Sandy T., Lynne B., and Jennifer S..

Please remember that the math game survey is due on Wednesday.  That is the game that was sent home last Tuesday.  I am also sending home a new reading log this week.  I would like each student to read Monday-Friday this week,  I will collect these logs next Monday.

I will be out of school next Monday morning.  We have another appointment for Julianne.  I plan on being back for the afternoon.

Peace,

Tom

October 15, 2010

Good Morning,
  This morning Winter and Liza were part of the first lower unit play of the school year.  It was a great performance with Liza playing bear and Winter playing the role of a musketeer.  During morning meeting, many of the students identified the play as the highlight of their week.  This morning we worked on a variety of projects.  A few of the students continued graphing the types of trees in the orchard.  All of the students worked on parts of our "Big" orchard map.  This involved laying out the tree plot and drawing the barn and bigger pines and maples in the field.  This afternoon the students worked with the concept of measuring area.  This was a fun activity in which they used inch blocks to figure out which candybar (paper version) would have the most chocolate.

*We will be going on our hike next Wednesday.  It looks like postponing it was a good idea.  Please e-mail me if you are still able to drive.
*A special thanks to Piper and Winter for snapping some of this week's pictures.

Peace,
Tom

October 14, 2010

HIKE FOR HUNGER IS CANCELLED FOR TOMORROW!

  Due to the inclement weather forecast, we will have to reschedule our hike that was planned for tomorrow.  I am thinking that we try for next Wednesday (the last day before teacher's convention).  Would my chaperones still be able to drive?  Please e-mail me if Wednesday doesn't work for you.  I will post more tomorrow.
Peace,
Tom

October 12, 2010

Good Morning,

  I am writing today and not tomorrow because tomorrow I have to leave at 11:00 for my daughter’s appointment.  Sally Utter will be the substitute for me.  She will be teaching math and social studies.  

  We will be going on our hike on Friday.  Instead of going to Sunset, we will be hiking to Beaver Pond.  I am planning on Bear, Sandy, Susan H., Jen Soucy, and Lynne B., to be our drivers.  Please let me know if anyone else would like to attend.  We will be leaving around 8:30.  Your child must bring a snack and water bottle for the trip.  Each child will be carrying their own items, so please clean out their backpacks or find a smaller bag for them to use.  Please make sure your child wears appropriate shoes and clothing.

FYI: 

*The math game I send home this week will not be due until next Wednesday.  Since we have a short week both this week and next.

*Lower Unit Play this Friday at assembly

*Please have your child bring in food for the food shelf/Hike For Hunger Campaign

*If you haven’t checked out the Hike For Hunger link posted on last Friday’s blog post, please watch it with your child.

*I am still collecting small boxes.

That is all for now.  I will write again on Friday.

Peace,

Tom

October 8, 2010

Good Afternoon!  Let me tell you about our day.  Around 9:30 we headed outside to hang the tree signs on each tree.  So, I had the pleasure of taking 16 wonderful children to the orchard.  Once there, we spent an hour enjoying a beautiful fall day enjoying the breeze, colors, and sunshine.  Could it get any better?  In all seriousness, the students did a wonderful job of creating signs for each tree.   If you drive by the orchard, you will see our wonderful work.  The next phase of the project will be creating a larger scaled version of our original map sketches, creating a digital image, and creating an interactive digital version.

Over the past two days we have continued working with geo-blocks and discovering the many attributes of each block.  This is a continuation of our geometry study.  The students have had a variety of ways to discover and explore the 2 and 3 dimensional shapes we are working with.

FYI:
*There is no school on Monday (Teacher Inservice).
*Next week we will be collecting food as we gear up for our Hike For Hunger.  Please have your child bring in food donations before next Friday.  For more information (there is a cool video for kids) about the Hike For Hunger Campaign, please check out this link:  http://www.vtnohunger.org/info/hikeforhunger.php

That is all for now.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend.  I will post again next Wednesday.
Peace,
Tom

October 6, 2010

What is geometry?  That was the question of the day (yesterday) as we started our 1st geometry unit of the year.  We talked a lot about 2 & 3 dimensional shapes, drew some of them, and identified the number of faces on a 3 dimensional shape.  We also started writing summaries of Make Way For Ducklings.  The students are illustrating their favorite part of the book and learning how to retell the story in their own words.  I will be creating a "Where Are We Now" bulletin board for the classroom.  This display will be dedicated to our year-long trip/study.  If you have any pictures of the Boston area, please send them in.  Throughout this week and next we will be discussing the book, learning about Patriot's Day, and discovering other places to see in Boston.

Indoor Recess!

Notes:
*The hike is set for October 15th.  As of right now; Lynne, Bear, Sandy, and Susan H. are our drivers/chaperones.  If you are interested in going, please let me know.  We will leave school at 8:30 that morning and return before 11:30.
*For your convenience, the upcoming events page has been updated.
*Reading Log and Math Survey are due Friday.
*We will be going to the orchard on Friday.

Peace,
Tom

October 4, 2010

Good Morning,
  I hope everyone enjoyed the wonderful weekend.  I found myself staring at the mountains and reflecting about how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful place.  Today we read Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey.  This is our first book on our journey around the country.  I started the lesson looking a a US map and we discussed the following words:  continent, country, region, state, county, and city/town.  These are terms that we will focus on throughout our geographic study.  We will be using this book over the next two weeks.  If you have any pictures of the Boston Common or Public Garden, please send them in.

FYI:
*You will notice that there is a button (on the right hand side of the page) that says "Follow."  If you click this, it will allow you to receive an e-mail notification that the blog has been updated.  I strongly encourage each person to do this.
*We will be hiking "Sunset" on Friday, October 15th.  This will be in conjunction with the Hike For Hunger Campaign.  Once again I will be asking students to bring in food donation for the Food Shelf.  If you would like to help chaperone/Drive on the trip, please let me know.  We will be leaving around 8:15 and hope to return by 11:00.
*Picture Day is tomorrow.  Our pictures will be at 12:00.
*Keep sending in the small boxes and the Box Top For Education tops.

That is all for now.  Have a wonderful week and I will post again on Tuesday.
Peace,
Tom

October 1, 2010

Good Afternoon,
  Today the river decided to come and visit our school.  Although it didn't get to the playground, it did spread across the lower field quite extensively.  Needless to say, we had indoor recess.  Yesterday we continued working with the concept of doubling a number and more story problems.  Today some of the students  worked on finishing our labels for the trees, some graphed the types of trees, and others worked on making a larger scale map of the orchard.  We also had spelling, Literature Circles, and I read from our new read-a-loud Matilda.

FYI:
*Picture day is next Tuesday.
*We are collecting General Mills Box Tops (school initiative).  Your child has a pink collecting sheet in his/her backpack.
*I would like to have our class do our Hike For Hunger Trek on Friday, October 15th.  Would anyone be able to drive students and help with the trip?  If you are able to help, please let me know by next Tuesday.

  This has been a fantastic week, and I am extremely pleased with the class.  I hope the students are having as much fun as I am and are enjoying the activities that are going on in the classroom.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Peace,
Tom